Truth

What is truth? 

(John 18:38).

Pilate’s question to Jesus was posed in a moment of political expediency and personal uncertainty. It still echoes across generations. It is a question that becomes increasingly urgent in our age, where truth is often diluted into personal preference, and facts are buried beneath floods of opinions.

We live in a world brimming with noise. Everywhere we turn, voices are offering thoughts, hot takes, anwers, insights. Everyone has an opinion, and much more, each person fiercely guards their right to express it.

Opinions, I have come to observe, are among the clearest expressions of the human desire for independence. They are a craving for individual identity, unshackled by absolutes. In this whirlwind of subjective expression, truth can become difficult to grasp. Not because it is absent, but because we have become wary of its impact. Out of fear of offending others or disrupting the fragile peace of societal norms, we may choose to modify, water down, or altogether ignore what is true. In doing so, we risk compromising the very foundation upon which life was meant to be lived.

But truth is not fragile. Truth does not bend itself to be more palatable. Truth does not evolve with opinion or trend with the times. Truth stands, unmoved. Whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we resist it or embrace it, the identity of truth remains inescapable.

There is, as I understand it, a twofold nature to truth—one that begins with a capital “T,” and another with a small “t.”

Truth, with a capital “T,” is the Person of Jesus Christ. He declared:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Jesus does not merely "speak the truth"; He is Truth itself. He is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the full expression of God’s nature and purpose. He embodies all that is real, righteous, tangible and unchanging.

truth, with a small “t,” refers to all the facts, principles, and revelations that lead us toward Him. It is the light we encounter before the Light itself. Just like John the Baptist, who declared, “I am not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:8), the Scriptures, creation, reason, and even conscience are all lesser lights that point to the greater reality of Christ.

This is how the Logos (the written Word of God) functions. It points, declares, signifies, and announces. The Word is not an end in itself but a guidepost to the eternal Word made flesh. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14).

Let me return to the earlier contrast I raised. The difference between truth and opinion lies in the nature of finality.

Opinions suggest, truth declares.

Opinions open the door to debate; truth closes it with authority.

Jesus said, “Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true… I know whence I came, and whither I go” (John 8:14).

Only Truth Himself can be His own witness, because Truth needs no external validation.

This absolute quality is what makes the Word the only true agent of sanctification. 

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

We are not made holy by clever ideas or comforting sentiments, but by truth that cuts, cleanses, and consecrates. Truth is the fire that purifies. It is the sword that divides. It is the anchor that holds in the stormy seas of life.

(Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:89).

And here lies a challenge for us in the modern world: will we love the truth, or will we prefer the safety of agreeable lies?

Paul warned of a time when men would “turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4). Yet, the believer is called to be a witness, not of popular opinions, but of the truth that sets men free. 

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

So then, what is truth?

Truth is not an idea to be negotiated. It is a Person to be known, loved, and followed. It is the unwavering reality of God in Christ, revealed to us in the Word, confirmed in the Spirit, and manifested in lives fully surrendered.

May every lesser light point us to the Greater Light. May every honest question find its resolution not in speculation, but in the revelation of the One who is Truth.